Closely following the original plans for the Messiah-class ships, the Messiah herself was originally christened the Gethsemane; an accident with the lead ship brought about her renaming and accelerated her construction. The specifics remain classified, but this class is rumored to be able to conceal itself in a deep subspace domain, pop into normal space at will, and then outmaneuver any vessel known to Starfleet, including the Defiant-class ships. Following the accident, extensive rebuilding was done to the IRCS package and a bio-neural gelpack computer system was installed, improving the vessel much over the initial design.

Unfortunately for the Messiah, her design troubles were just beginning. While undergoing final systems integration at the Utopia Planitia facility, the Borg attempted a second attack on Earth; the crew of the Messiah worked for seventy-nine straight hours to make the ship spaceworthy. Upon her launch, however, an impulse fusion reactor overloaded and exploded, killing forty-one and causing the Messiah to drift near Utopia Planitia while the Borg cube approached Earth. Another extensive refit followed, and the ship was due to be launched in a matter of weeks to fight in the Dominion War. Recently both the Messiah and the Gethsemane were involved in a classified incident which resulted in the loss of the Messiah and further damage to the Gethsemane, which is currently undergoing reconstruction at Utopia Planitia.

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